Zack Polanski says he’s ‘done nothing wrong’ after guillotine T-shirt ‘mistake’
Zack Polanski says he made a ‘mistake’ sharing the offending image (Image: Getty Images | X/Nigel_Farage)
Green party leader Zack Polanski has said he’s “not done anything wrong” apart from making a “mistake” after sharing a photo of a man wearing a guillotine T-shirt which read: “We’re only making plans for Nigel.”
Polanski has said he won’t be refusing to Nigel Farage, whose party Reform UK filed a police complaint over the image.
The out gay politician addressed the controversy in a BBC Newsnight interview, describing the post as an “inadvertent mistake”. He said it was “a collaboration from a photographer”, adding: “It had 20 images and I just didn’t look carefully enough and I accepted it.”
The image appeared in a 20-photo “collab” post, a format that publishes the same content across multiple accounts once accepted. Polanski said the guillotine T-shirt appeared as the fifth image in the set, and that he removed it once he noticed it.
“I think it would be odd for the police to speak to me about that because I think it’s quite obvious that I’ve not done anything wrong other than making an inadvertent mistake,” Polanski said on Newsnight. However, he added: “If the police do want to talk to me, of course I’m very happy to co-operate.”
On his refusal to apologise, Polanski added: “Because this was a mistake, I think the important thing is that I point out it’s a mistake, that I also make sure that I condemn political violence and also crucially make a commitment to be better on my social media.”
Reform complaint and political fallout
Reform UK reported Polanski to the Metropolitan Police over the Instagram post, and the party’s home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf accused him of “inciting murder”. Farage also suggested Polanski should be arrested.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said the force was “conducting inquiries” and took “reports of this nature extremely seriously”.
Work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden said politicians had “a duty to be careful about what they post”, adding the police would decide if further action was necessary.
Polanski is a prominent Green figure whose leadership has attracted scrutiny over messaging and media strategy, even clapping back at Katie Hopkins after she tried to throw shade about him making an appearance at a gay nightclub earlier this year.
Farage remains a polarising figure for queer communities and has been criticised by LGBTQ+ campaigners and allies over stances and associations seen as hostile to minority rights, including Reform UK candidates’ offensive posts.
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